The University of Nottingham's national MRI Facility that is currently under construction has been given a £2m funding boost by the Wolfson Foundation.
The funding will support the construction of the new national facility that will house the UK's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. This new state-of-the-art scanner will give researchers and doctors unprecedented insights into brain function and the mechanisms of human disease. The new scanner will be the joint-most powerful in the world – equal to the only other 11.7T MRI facility in operation, located just south of Paris.
A 250 sq. ft magnet hall extension to the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre has been designed to house the 11.7 Tesla Ultra High Field MRI scanner – incorporating a 67-tonne, 3.7metre-long magnet that will enhance the UK's capability for world-leading brain imaging research.
The building work on the extension is making good progress, and the next phase of the project is the installation of a 567-tonne passive iron shield. This will reduce the scanner's external magnetic footprint and is a core part of the infrastructure that ensures ultra-high field MRI can operate safely.
We're delighted to be receiving this funding from the Wolfson Foundation, it is a hugely welcome boost to the original funding we received from UKRI to initiate this important project. This new facility is a first for the UK and represents a step change in imaging technology that will benefit researchers and clinicians across the world. The application to the Wolfson Foundation was made in conjunction with users of the planned facility from UCL and the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford.
The advanced capabilities of the new scanner will underpin a broad range of clinical and neuroscience-focused research programmes in the UK. It will be more than 1,000 times more powerful than the world's first scanner pioneered by the late Sir Peter Mansfield here at Nottingham and should help transform understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and provide insight into neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia.
Ultra-high field MRI also offers huge benefits in terms of improved sensitivity which will enable higher spatial resolution imaging, faster imaging, and greater sensitivity to physiological changes. The scanner will also provide a step change in the capabilities of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to provide information about the biochemistry of the human body in health and disease.
This new award continues the enduring and valuable relationship between the Wolfson Foundation and the University of Nottingham. For many decades, the Foundation has funded research at Nottingham – enabling new advances in science, medicine, engineering and the humanities to deliver lasting impacts on society. This has included two awards for previous MRI research, with one grant made in 1976 to support Sir Peter Mansfield's early-stage work.
This latest grant strengthens the shared history between the University and the Foundation in the field of MRI research. The Foundation was inducted into the university's College of Benefactors in 2007, which acknowledges the transformational contributions our most generous donors have made to the development of the institution.
Rooted in the pioneering legacy of Sir Peter Mansfield and the ongoing excellence of the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, Nottingham is brilliantly placed to host this new national MRI facility. It marks a significant step forward in imaging capability, enabling researchers to drive the next generation of discoveries in brain science and human health. We are delighted to be able to support this project.
Seeing the new magnet hall extension take shape has really brought the project to life after being a long time in the planning. We are excited for the coming year, that with the help of this additional funding will see some big developments, starting with the installation of the iron shielding.
The new national scanning facility is also being supported through the UKRI Infrastructure Fund. The UKRI Infrastructure Fund supports the facilities, equipment and resources that are essential for researchers and innovators to do ground-breaking work and will help to create a long-term pipeline of research and innovation infrastructure investment priorities for the next 10 to 20 years.
